From: "Mike Mammoser" <[[email protected]]>
To: SBB <[[email protected]]>
Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2002 15:32:12 -0700
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Late Friday afternoon, 30 Aug 02, I walked out at the Sunnyvale Sewage
Ponds. The levee had 170+ FORSTER'S TERNS, as well as 1 juvenile BLACK TERN
and a BLACK SKIMMER.

It looks like songbird migration has started in earnest, as I had a good
showing at CCFS today, 31 Aug 02. The numbers were: 15 YELLOW WARBLERS, 2
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, 4 WILSON'S WARBLERS, 5 COMMON YELLOWTHROATS, 10
PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS, 4 WILLOW FLYCATCHERS, 1 OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, 4
WESTERN TANAGERS, 1 HOUSE WREN, 1 BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, and 1 BLACK-HEADED
GROSBEAK.

At the EEC I had 3 more YELLOW WARBLERS and a WILSON'S WARBLER. One
empidonax flycatcher didn't give me a good enough look for an ID. Along the
entrance road were at least 5 LESSER YELLOWLEGS and a PECTORAL SANDPIPER,
that is until an immature PRAIRIE FALCON came by and flushed them away.

Mike Mammoser

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Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2002 15:50:37 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Dr. Michael M. Rogers" <[[email protected]]>
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Subject: [SBB] Stevens Creek and Alviso
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All,

This morning 8/31/02, I started out by looking for landbird migrants
along Stevens Creek between L'Avenida and Crittenden Lane.  There was
only a trickle, with 1 WARBLING VIREO, 1 YELLOW WARBLER, 2 WILSON'S
WARBLERS (including one giving a weak jumbled song), and 5 COMMON
YELLOWTHROATS (which may have migrated all the way from the marshes of
Moffett Field on the other side of the dike).  Nearly all of these
birds were between the power line crossing and the lone eucalyptus
tree.  Other birds of interest included a female HOODED ORIOLE feeding
a young BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, 1 juvenile GREEN HERON, and two BELTED
KINGFISHERS.  Twelve GREEN-WINGED TEAL just north of the Crittenden
Lane bridge were more than reported from here earlier in the month and
may have included some recent arrivals.  While studying the WARBLING
VIREO on the way back out, I heard some funny goldfinch-like calls
that didn't seem to fit any of our species.  This was explained when a
EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH popped up!  I guess this bird joins Northern Red
Bishop and Zebra Finch on the list of escaped exotics for this
location.

I next checked the fennel patch between the Sunnyvale Water Pollution
Control Plant and Lockheed. Highlight here was a WILLOW FLYCATCHER
with a flock of BUSHTITS.  There were 5 LESSER YELLOWLEGS in the
Lockheed pond further north with lots of other shorebirds.  The water
level in this pond is great and we should keeping checking this spot.

I then made a 2+ hour bike trip around the Alviso salt ponds.  The
SNOWY PLOVER with the broken right leg was just off the dike in the
impoundment north of the Marina, providing excellent views.  Despite
the drab neck collar I think the very worn coverts and lack of scaly
feather edgings suggest an adult bird on this date.

The water in most of the salt ponds is too high for roosting
shorebirds still, although there is some exposed mud in the western
arm of Salt Pond A15.  A few shorebirds were here, but most were out
on Coyote Slough.  Salt Pond A9 and nearby Coyote Slough had 1150+
NORTHERN SHOVELERS and perhaps 100 NORTHERN PINTAIL.  A flock of 90+
FORSTER'S TERNS on the A9/A10 dike contained a single CASPIAN TERN and
two adult LEAST TERNS (getting late for them), but no Elegants.  At
least 32 BROWN PELICANS were in the vicinity of Salt Ponds A9 and A10.
Shorebirds overflying Salt Pond A9 included 20 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES
heading north and a mystery Calidrid heading east.  I picked out the
latter bird after hearing a turnstone-like whinny.  When I got on the
suspected culprit I did not see the expected turnstone pattern, but
rather a Pectoral Sandpiper-like shorebird (although the light was
bad) that uttered a few raspy "kewp or "skewp" calls as it flew
towards CCFS.

A big surprise along the southern shore of pond A10 was some kind of
Ray swimming in shallow water just off the dike.  Anyone know what
species we have out there?

Back in Alviso, the swallow flock had grown from 120+ birds to almost
300 birds.  Checking through them turned up a BANK SWALLOW
(photographed at 1:25pm), 2 CLIFF SWALLOWS, 30+ VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS,
and 260+ BARN SWALLOWS.  Unfortunately I could not refind the BANK
SWALLOW with other birders between 2:10 and 2:30pm.

The pond at State and Spreckles had the now nearly complete basic
plumaged STILT SANDPIPER, 106+ WILSON'S PHALAROPES, and 4 LESSER
YELLOWLEGS.

On another note, photos taken by Deb Bartens of the Common Murre
rescued near the sailing dock at the Palo Alto Baylands on 8/30
suggest that it is a juvenile rather than an adult.  Thus we
apparently had two young birds rather than an adult with a juvenile.

Mike Rogers